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Spinal Cord Injury in Forty-Four Patients with Cervical Spondylosis*

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Spinal Cord Injury in Forty-Four Patients with Cervical Spondylosis* Paraplt:/?iu 24 1,]Y86': 301-106 1986 International Medical Society of Paraplegia Spinal Cord Injury in Forty-four Patients with Cervical Spondylosis* Dominic Foo, M.D. Spinal Cord Injury and Neurology Services, West Roxbury Veterans Adminis­ tration Medical Center and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Summary Within a 12-year period, 44 (9·4()()) of 466 patients had spinal cord injury compli­ cating cervical spondylosis. A history of alcoholic use preceding the accident was obtained in 12 (54.5° ,, ) of 22 patients whose cord injury was due to a minor fall. The initial myelopathy was complete in 10 patients and incomplete in 34. Although neurological recovery was seen in the majority of the patients with incomplete cord lesion, complete recovery was unusual and most of the patients were partly or completely wheelchair dependent. No patient developed acute neurological deteriora­ tion after injury but seven expired. The mortality rate was much higher in the patients whose initial cord lesion was complete (SaO () or 5/10) than in those with incomplete myelopathy (5.9°0 or 2/34). There was no delayed neurological deterioration due to progressive spondylosis of the spine but three patients developed post-traumatic syringomyelia several months to several years after the injury. Key words: Cervical spondylosis; Spinal cord injury; Spinal fracture; Syringo­ myelia; Mortality. Introduction There have been many publications in the literature on the association between cervical spondylosis and spinal cord injury with regard to the cause and mechan­ ism of the injury, clinical presentation, radiological features, and autopsy findings (Hardy, 1977; Hughes and Brownell, 1963; Schneider et al., 1954; Symonds, 1953; Young et al., 1977-78). However, there have been very few reports on the incidence of traumatic myelopathy complicating cervical spondylosis in a Spinal Cord Injury Centre and on the study and follow-up of a large number * This paper was presented in pan at the Annual Meeting of the American Spinal Injury Associ­ ation, March 26-28, 1984, Houston, Texas, U. S.A., and in part at the Annual Meeting of the American Paraplegia Society, September 4-6, 1985, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. Requests for Reprints to Dominic Foo, M.D., Veterans Administration Medical Center, 1400 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA 02132, U.S.A. 302 PARAPLEG IA of these patients. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the incidence of spinal cord injury in patients with cervical spondylosis in this Spinal Centre, to identify other factors that may predispose these patients to injury, to assess their recovery and mortality, and to show that delayed onset of progressive myelopathy is usually the result of the formation of a syrinx rather than the result of cord compression by progressive spondylosis. Patients and tnethods From 1 May 1973 to 31 May 1985, 455 male and 21 female patients with acute spinal cord injury were admitted to the Spinal Cord Injury Centre in West Roxbury Veterans Administration Medical Centre, excluding those with spinal fracture without myelopathy or those with atraumatic myelopathy; their ages ranged from 14 to 84 years (mean, 34 years) and most of them were admitted within 6 weeks of their trauma. Post-traumatic myelopathy associated with cervical spondylosis, which was defined by the presence of radiological evidence of osteophyte formation causing narrowing of the spinal canal or intervertebral foramina, was seen in 44 male subjects. Patients with only slight degenerative changes of the spine were not included in this study. The myelopathy was sen­ sory and motor complete in 10 patients, sensory incomplete but motor complete in four, sensory complete but motor incomplete in four, and sensory and motor incomplete in 26. Many of these patients had been followed by us at least once a year since their injury. The follow-up period of 37 patients who survived their cord injury ranged from 4 months to 10 years (mean, 3 years), postinjury. The medical records of their first and subsequent admissions were reviewed; a few patients were personally contacted by phone to update their current condition. A patient was considered to have recovery or improvement of his deficits if he showed more than slight sensory or motor return below the level of his spinal injury. Patients who died after they were discharged from the hospital after completing their rehabilitation were not included in the calculation of the mortal­ ity rate of the patients whose death was directly related to their cord injury. Results The 44 patients studied were aged from 50 to 84 years (mean, 65 years) at the time of their injury. They were admitted within 6 weeks of injury, with the exception of three patients. Twenty-two patients were admitted within 7 days postinjury. The causes of the trauma were as follows: 22 patients had a minor fall; 15 were involved in an automobile accident; three fell from a height of 8 to 30 feet; two had a bicycle accident; and one was hit on the head by a broken chimney. The cause of the accident could not be found in the remaining patient who was lost to follow-up after his first hospitalisation. A history of alcoholic use before the accident was obtained in 12 of 22 patients whose cord injury was due to a minor fall, either from the patient himself or indirectly from the family; the blood alcohol level was obtained in two patients and it was 174 and 345 mg/dl, respectively. There was no history of the use of alcohol in the other 22 patients who had automobile or other accidents. Cervical fracture and/or subluxation was observed in 24 patients. Two patients had unilateral facet dis- SP INAL CORD INJURY 303 location with fracture and two had unilateral facet dislocation without fracture. Ligamentous damage only, evidenced by the presence of subluxation or widening of the anterior intervertebral disc without fracture, was seen in 11 patients. There was no radiological evidence of bony or ligamentous injury of the spine in the remaining five patients even with their neck in slight flexion or extension positions. Cervical myelograms in 10 patients showed evidence of cord swelling at the fractured site, in the absence of a prolapsed disc or loose bone fragment within the spinal canal. Another patient had myelographic evi­ dence of a large extradural defect which was found at operation to be an epidural haematoma. A patient had wiring of the C2 and C3 vertebrate because the halo vest failed to give a satisfactory alignment at the site of subluxation and another had anterior cervical decompression 1 week post injury which was followed 3 weeks later by posterior laminectomy. There was partial neurological recovery in these three patients post-operatively. Forty-one patients were treated con­ servatively. In general, the patients who had spinal fracture or dislocation had skull traction for a period of 8 to 12 weeks after the dislocation was reduced; in some of the patients with grossly incomplete cord lesion, the fractured site was immobilised with a halo vest for 2 to 3 months after they had skull traction for 1 to 2 weeks. The other patients with no bony lesion or with a stable spine in spite of ligamentous damage were treated with a collar. A tapering course of parenteral Decadron was given in most of the patients for 1 to 2 weeks post injury after a loading dose of 10 to 20 mg. The neurological progress of the 41 patients who were treated conservatively is summarised in Table 1. None of the patients had acute neurological deterior­ ation secondary to an unstable spine. Medical complications occurred in four patients who expired within 3 months of their trauma. Another three patients who had a protracted course in the hospital because of recurrent pulmonary or cardiac problems died 11 months, 18 months, and 20 months postinjury, res­ pectively. In these seven patients who expired, the initial myelopathy was complete in five and incomplete in two. The mortality rate was 50° 0 (5/10) in the patients whose post-traumatic myelopathy was complete versus 5.90 () (2/34) in those with incomplete cord lesion. Twenty-seven patients were able to return home after discharge but 10 remained in a chronic care facility, including nursing homes. The ambulatory state in 37 patients who survived their spinal injury is summarised in Table 2. Post-traumatic syringomyelia was found in three patients 4 months, S years, and 6 years after their trauma, respectively. However, none of the patients developed delayed neurological deterioration secondary to cord compression by osteophytes. Table 1 Neurological recovery in 41 patients with cervical spondylosis and spinal cord injury treated conservatively Spinal Cord Injury Neurological Recovery Complete Incomplete Complete o I Partial 2 25 None 7 6 Total 9 32 304 PARAPLEGIA Table 2 Ambulatory status in 37 patients with cervical spondylosis who survived their spinal cord injury Spinal Cord Injury Ambulatory status Complete Incomplete Independent Ambulation 0 3 Without Support Walking with a Cane 0 7 or Crutch Partially Wheelchair 0 9 Dependent Completely Wheelchair 5 13 Dependent Total 5 32 Discussion Cervical spondylosis was seen in 107 patients with spinal cord trauma among 384 successive neck injuries admitted to the Sheffield Spinal Injuries Unit (Hardy, 1977). In this study, the incidence of traumatic myelopathy complicating " cervical spondylosis was 9'4 " (44/466) over a period of 12 years. Similar to the patients with ankylosing spondylitis (Foo et al., 1985), minor fall preceded by alcoholic consumption was a common cause of spinal cord injury in our patients with cervical spondylosis. However, it was not a contributory factor when the myelopathy was secondary to automobile or other accidents.
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